Privacy

[Soulful]

I suppose it could be said that the need for privacy stems from the need to conserve energy and to maintain a sense of emotional/mental/physical/other security.

What would you say are some other, perhaps more secondary, reasons?

If you feel comfortable sharing, what motivates you to keep (yourself) to yourself or to avoid certain levels of personal self-disclosure?

 

[sassafras]

I think privacy mimics a sense of omnipotence, power. No one else but you has access to a domain of your own choosing, whatever it is that you choose to keep private. There's a romantic thrill in keeping secrets. Privacy, in my opinion, is just as strongly tied to ego as it is to security.

 

[Soulful]

Privacy, in my opinion, is just as strongly tied to ego as it is to security.

That's interesting (your entire post )

Would you not say that ego is tied to security? Or emerges in an attempt to sustain a sense of security?

 

[Gaze]

If you feel comfortable sharing, what motivates you to keep (yourself) to yourself or to avoid certain levels of personal self-disclosure?

privacy

But seriously, i think it's based on a need to self protect from harm or danger. It's another way of having and keeping control over who knows what and how much. It's one way of showing ownership of our person/selves.

I avoid certain levels of self disclosure if i think someone will use the info to manipulate, undermine, or exploit a situation. I think it's also based on a knowing, personal and professional, that people will use whatever they have access to, to judge. Many say, if you reveal something, they won't be upset or they won't be affected, or won't change their behavior, but they do. We say things we intend to keep, and with the best of intentions but it's not always honest of course.

 

[894tt3h9]

I was just having a conversation about privacy with a friend the other day. He needs absolute privacy for absolutely everything he does. He was suprised that I was on my laptop in the living room while my roommate was home. I don't really need privacy. I need it to get dressed and to shower and anything other than that I am not really concerned about. Then again, 3/4 of my time is spent completely alone so I have no need to worry about privacy I suppose.

I am also not a very secretive person. I just really don't have that much going on.

 

[sassafras]

That's interesting (your entire post )

Would you not say that ego is tied to security? Or emerges in an attempt to sustain a sense of security?

Well, yes, if you boil everything down to its nuts and bolts, a person's motivation is moving away from fear and toward pleasure, in which case, security is paramount in affording a solution to both problems: maintaining pleasure and keeping fear at bay. In which case, the latter is true. The ego is an expression of security.

I thought you were talking about the more ostensible list of reasons for privacy.

 

[Jonathan]

It depends. I keep myself to myself when I feel that the people I know won't appreciate certain aspects of who I am adequately. I'm very sensitive about certain areas of my life, and I keep them hidden even from those who I trust and confide in.
Sometimes, in conversation, opportunities to bring up certain interests or insights arise, and I let them pass. Usually the atmosphere isn't right. I ask myself, 'will anyone really appreciate this deeply personal part of who I am?' the answer is almost always a definite no. I can't have people treat these things as if they don't matter. Even moreso, if they reject that aspect of me, I take it as almost a personal rejection. Even if people unwittingly bash a certain character trait, belief, or personal taste I have, my level of privacy goes way up around them, and they have to earn my trust somehow before they can know too much about me.

So, I'd say, it's a way of protecting your idenity from unneeded judgment, attack, or being misunderstood. Since you control what you disclose about yourself, you're controlling what other people can use to develop their opinion of you. Also, it keeps people guessing, and gives you a sense of myster, which reveals who is genuinely interested in getting to know you and who's just making smalltalk so they can make superficial judgements about you based on their own opinions.

 

[Soulful]

Well, yes, if you boil everything down to its nuts and bolts, a person's motivation is moving away from fear and toward pleasure, in which case, security is paramount in affording a solution to both problems: maintaining pleasure and keeping fear at bay. In which case, the latter is true. The ego is an expression of security.

I thought you were talking about the more ostensible list of reasons for privacy.

I was, your interpretation was spot on. I guess I mostly see ego in this light. Perhaps there are differences in which the ego can be used toward maintaining privacy, though... Ex. Stemming from a genuine and healthy or luxurious sense of self-pride and thus relishing in one's privacy and its perceived value vs. fear-based motivation (Ex. A superiority complex). I hope that makes sense.